PINEVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia jury has ruled that a coal company owned by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice did not contaminate the drinking water wells of residents, but the plaintiffs’ attorneys say the jury may have been improperly influenced by the presence of coal employees throughout the trial. The jury returned the verdict Thursday in the case ...

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s efforts to use local clean air laws to regulate pollution in the home of the nation’s largest petrochemical complex were halted Friday by a Texas Supreme Court ruling in favor of energy and chemical companies that claimed the city had overreached. The coalition made up of ExxonMobil Corp. and other companies with nearby refineries and plants ...

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A natural gas pipeline exploded in a towering, roaring fireball Friday, destroying a home several hundred yards away, damaging at least three others and creating waves of intense heat that burned a fleeing homeowner as he ran down a road, authorities said. “It looked like you were looking down into hell,” said Forbes Road Volunteer Fire ...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama would use settlement money from the 2010 BP oil spill to pay off state debts and pay for road projects in coastal counties, under a last-minute compromise approved Wednesday by a budget committee. The proposal could also stave off cuts in Medicaid services by closing $55 million of a projected $85 million gap in next ...

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Six of nine families have been allowed to return to their homes two days after a natural gas pipeline exploded into a fireball in western Pennsylvania. Spectra Energy Corp. of Houston is working with three other families whose homes were too badly damaged by Friday’s explosion to return after the evacuation order was lifted Sunday. That ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Coal producer Murray Energy Corp. is challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule that targets mercury pollution from power plants. St. Clairsville, Ohio-based Murray Energy filed a brief with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Monday, challenging the EPA’s supplemental finding published earlier in the day. The U.S. Supreme ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been two months since a blown-out natural gas well was capped and officials spoke of thousands of uprooted families returning to their normal lives. But nearly half of the 8,000 families who left home at some point have yet to return, many still worried about the possibility of another leak and potential health hazards from ...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Dominion Virginia Power plans to begin releasing treated coal ash wastewater into the James River at the Bremo Power Station. The state’s largest electric utility is planning to begin discharging the water Wednesday as it moves to close coal ash impoundments at power plants. Dominion says it will treat 240 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of water ...

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — Environmental groups are taking legal action to require the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to treat water pollution at bankrupt coal mines. News outlets report that the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia Rivers Coalition and the WestChapter of the Sierra Club filed two lawsuits in two federal courts on April 20. The plaintiffs accuse West Virginia of violating ...

HARRAH, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey reports three moderate earthquakes have been recorded in central and northwestern Oklahoma. The USGS says a magnitude 4.0 temblor was recorded at 10:44 a.m. Tuesday near Harrah, about 25 miles east of Oklahoma City. No injuries or damage are reported. Also, quakes of magnitude 3.4 and 3.5 were recorded just seconds apart ...

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